Saturday, December 13, 2008

Give someone a hunk of cornbread and they eat for a day. Give them a cast iron skillet and a copy of The Cornbread Gospels and they'll eat for the rest of their life.

Okay, enough dilly dallying around. I'm going to make a long and pathetic story short. Almost a year ago I received a review copy of The Cornbread Gospels by Crescent Dragonwagon. I tried recipes, took photos, happily ate hunks of warm cornbread with honey and tall glasses of cold milk for breakfast for days on end, fell in love with this wonderful book, started wishing I lived next door to Crescent because her stories kept making me laugh out loud—and never got around to telling you about any of it.

Shame on me. It pains me to think of all the scrumptious cornbread you and your loved ones could have been devouring during the past year if I'd been more on the ball. Not to mention all the fun you could have been having learning tons of stuff about cornbread and getting to know Crescent (who adores cornbread so much she spent six years working on this book). So let's forget the 'proper' review this book deserves and the recipes I've been meaning to share, and just cut to the chase.

I love The Cornbread Gospels and am giving away a copy signed by Crescent Dragonwagon to one lucky Farmgirl Fare reader.* To enter, leave a comment in this post telling us something (anything!) about cornbread—a favorite family recipe, what kind of cornbread you like, how you like to eat it, your first cornbread memory, a funny cornbread story, or simply why you want to win a copy of this book.

One entry per person, please. I moderate comments, so if I'm away from the computer it may be several hours before yours actually appears. If your comment doesn't show up right away, there's no need to leave another one.

You can enter through next Wednesday, December 17th, and I'll choose and announce a random winner on Thursday, December 18th. Please check back to see if you've won, especially if I have no way to get a hold of you (for example, if you have a blogger profile, is it public and does it list your correct e-mail address?). If I don't hear from you by Monday, December 22nd I'll have to pick another winner. Sorry, but this prize can only be shipped to a U.S. address.

Good luck! I can't wait to read all your cornbread comments. And in the meantime, if you're flailing around looking for a practical and delicious gift to give the food lovers on your list, consider buying them a cornbread kit. It will last forever and set you back less than 25 bucks. Simply place a copy of The Cornbread Gospels in a 10-inch cast iron skillet (which of course has a million other uses) and tie a big red bow around it. Done! If you want to go all out, you could include a pretty package of organic cornmeal and a jar of local honey.

*Monday update: My apologies for any confusion—the giveaway is for a signed copy of The Cornbread Gospels. The cornbread 'kit' is a fun gift idea I just tossed out as a suggestion.

188 comments:

oh wow, I love Crescent Dragonwagon! I used to be the designated cornbread maker in our house as a kid, and I liked to double the sugar and put some vanilla in it to sweeten it up. Our family inhales cornbread when I remember to make it....my favorite way to eat it is with butter and honey.

Most of the year, we eat cornbread with chili and jambalaya. I'm a fan of sprinkling the batter with chopped jalepenos and then drizzling with warm honey just out of the oven. But since we are just coming off of Thanksgiving, I had to share my favorite cornbread stuffing recipe...

2 andouille sausage links (just over 0.5 lbs)1 cup dried cranberries, simmered in water to plump them up.1 stick of butter2 cups diced celery, about 5-6 stalks½ cup diced onion, or ½ a large onion1 egg3 cups broth or stock5 cups cornbread crumbs (I used a 9X9 loaf of corn bread, crumbled onto a baking sheet, and dried in the oven at 250 degrees for about 2 hours.)1-2 cups regular bread crumbs, very dry and very fine.1 T black pepper1 T herbs de Provence (optional). Or you could use sage, thyme, poultry seasoning, etc.

1. Squeeze sausage from casing and cook in 1-2 T oil, breaking up into small pieces with a wooden spoon. When finished, set aside. (If you have precooked andouille, you could just dice it.)2. Cook the celery and onion in the same skillet with the stick of butter. You could drain the fat/grease from the skillet OR cook the celery and onion in the dripping from the sausage. Sautee celery and onion until soft. Try not to brown the vegetables or butter.3. Simmer cranberries to hydrate, if necessary. Drain of liquid and set aside with sausage.4. In a bowl, combine cornbread crumbs, celery, onion, sausage, craberries, herbs, pepper, egg, and slowly add broth. You may need more or less, depending on your tastes5. Grease a large glass casserole dish, and spread dressing in the dish.6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until set.

Although I grew up in OC California, my dad is from Tenn. and was the cornbread maker. He used white cornmeal and the cornbread was not sweet. We would eat leftover cornbread this way: Crumple cornbread until it almost fills a tall glass. Add milk, salt, and pepper. Eat with a long spoon. Yumsters!

We're a family of cornbread fanatics. There is no 12 step program to help us with our obsession.

We eat cornbread cakes, hoe cakes (fried cornbread) for breakfast, we've cut up hot dogs in our cornbread muffins to make "corndogs", we'll eat it with honey, with maple syrup, crumbled up in chili, baked on top of chili. We've crumbled it up and made stuffing. We've crushed it to bread fish. We like it sweet, we like it savory, in a pinch (she shamefacedly admits) we'll pick up Jiffy Mix. Oh, but that's few and far between because homemade is so where it's at. We've made it with cheese, with corn, with peppers. We've made it with raw sugar and once with my dad's honey. We've made it with made it with my brother's homemade, yes from a tree, maple syrup.

We once dented our cabin porch when we found a petrified pan of cornbread lingering from the last visit. The cornbread actually dented the wood decking. (not my best effort, the baking, not the throwing!)

We'd savor every page, literally.

Thanks for the contest. And a cast iron skillet to boot? You must know that our prize one was stolen from our cabin recently and we miss it dearly!

My name is Donna and my favorite 10inch cast iron skillet is the one my grandma taught me to make corn bread in! I also love Crescent's books. Right now, with the hubby laid off, I'm not buying any, but I can sure try winning one! Cornbread, buttered nicely, with bean soup -- now that's comfort food!

Cornbread is an old favorite in my family. We tease my mom about her famous black-bottomed cornbread. It's not that she isn't a good cook. She's just a distracted cook. She would always forget about it until the bottom burned. We'd just peel off the black and eat the rest - with honey!

My husband is into dutch oven and cast iron cooking. I've ALWAYS made the corn bread in a cast iron sillet. He decided he was going to make it in a dutch oven over an open fire. I kept telling him to take it off the fire, but needless to say, he didn't and it burned. Everyone said, you should have listened to me. Well, we were at the back of the farm camping and he sent me into town for more. I bought 6 boxes, just in case. Well he burnt everyone. The last batch was't too bad so he cut off the burnt and we ate it anyway. I guess a little is better than none. But now when we camp, I'm in charge of the cornbread! HA!

My mother and I lived with my grandparents from the time I was five until I left for nursing school. I watched her make cornbread every day of the year. I hope some of her cornbread skills rubbed off on me. I love cornbread best with summer veggies, as fresh corn, green beans, and black eyed peas. I also love it with vegetable soup, yum!

I love cornbread, made from scratch from Mom's recipe with layers of butter and honey on it. I've been eating it like that forever, and it's delicious. Especially with orange blossom honey from Florida...

Okay, I need to win the cookbook because....I make cornbread from a box - yes, it's true - however it's Krusteaz and it seems to be good. but apparently, I could be doing better, plus, I cried when I read Crescent's book The Passionate Vegetarian when she tells about her husband and...then on to hundreds of pages of terrific stories and recipes for veggies like me. What a writer! Anyway, I do enjoy your blog, most especially the donkeys and the beagles!!Thanks! Deb

I adore cornbread made in a cast-iron skillet. I have a wonderful recipe that always comes out with a glorious crunchy bottom crust, but also have a weakness for a spicy recipe with cheddar cheese and peppers.

We like cornbread. But recently, I had one of those "tins" of cornbread mix - on sale, looking for an easy meal - and it was the worst idea ever. I generally make my own "mixes" with instructions on the zipper bag that I keep in the freezer of how to make a pan of cornbread from the mix, but my lameness made me use the tin and boy did I regret it. Never again. I just wish I had a little more variety in my cornbreads ... Hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge ...

I still make cornbread in a cast iron skillet. I love mine. I even got one for my daughter for Christmas this year. She has already guessed correctly. How can someone guess an iron skillet? I was raised on savory cornbread, not sweet. I still have difficulty with sweet cornbread. What would a holiday be without cornbread stuffing? Merry Christmas

Whoa...here come the sweet memories...Yummy cornbread sitcks made of Weisenberger corn meal, baked in generational seasoned cast iron cornbread muffin pans shaped like ears of corn and served with real butter--by my Grandmama Dorroh. I have some Wiesenberger cornmeal in my own California pantry thanks to Debbie, my Kentucky cousin who sent me home with some on our last visit back.

I have only recently discovered that cornbread is not just a dry yellow hunk of overly sweet filler. A few years ago, my housemate made some habanero cornbread with honey from scratch. It made my mouth burn, but it was amazingly moist and delicious. I feel like I've been missing out all these years on wonderful cornbread!

I've always liked cornbread, but recently I baked some in my cast iron skillet for the first time and totally fell in love with it all over again. It was the best ever and I am now sold on cast iron skillet cooking. I like cornbread best hot out of the oven with real butter on it.

I grew up in an unheated house that my granpa built. There was a double-decker electric oven in the kitchen, and I would sit there to keep warm when mom cooked cornbread. We had not one but two cast iron skillets: one for cornbread, and one for other things.

Winning this cookbook would be like finding an oasis of summer in wintery Maine - we're covered in ice and the thought of a warm skillet of cornbread smothered in butter and honey is heavenly. I'm a transplanted southerner who misses good cornbread-these Yankees just don't get the love affair. Even if I don't win I'm tracking down this cookbook!

Mmmm....cornbread! I recently made a large batch of vegan blueberry cornbread muffins for sister to have on hand for snacks. She loved them. She LOVES corn bread, corn muffins...... At the time she had morning sickness and little motivation to cook and that has thankfully passed - could it be the cornbread?!

I can't believe I do not already have this book! I love cornbread. My mom always had those silly cast iron cornbread tins that are shaped like ears of corn, and nothing is more delicious that the cornbread that comes out of one of those, well buttered of course. The secret is to put the tins in a cold oven with a pat of butter in each. Then pre-heat the oven, the tins, and grease them all at once, just drop the corn bread batter directly over the central mass of melted butter and it's perfect. Easy to burn yourself though, just a sacrifice we have to make for delicious cornbread.

Early cornbread memory. Going out to he feed room of the barn with my Great Aunt with a sifter to get some freshly ground cornmeal. She just took a scoop and ran it through the sifter to get something fine enough to use. Except for the flour and baking powder purchased from the store everything else in it was from the farm, milk, butter, egg, maple syrup and corn meal. Hot out of the oven split it open and spread butter and dosed in maple syrup, yummy!

Cornbread - usually from a box (Krusteaz)I'm sorry to say. I have a lot to learn.I know my MIL made it in a skillet and I've heard she added sugar and mayo. I could definitely use the book. thank you.Candy

One of my fondest memories of my dearest uncle is of him making cornbread in a skillet just like the one in your picture. His cornbread was absolutely the best. I can never eat cornbread without thinking about him. He hiked the whole of the Appallachian Trail, about 30 years ago, fueled largely by cornbread.

Cornbread fresh and piping hot from the oven - drenched in butter is the perfect side to any hearty meal. Something new I started doing in past couple of years is adding crumbled cold cornbread to a chopped salad with avocado, green chilis, lettuce, onion, tomato and olives - making a taco salad with real oomph!

My family always requests "the real cornbread recipe" whenever I try a different recipe. "The real cornbread recipe" comes from America's Best Recipes, State Fair Blue Ribbon Winners, (c)1983! When I open the book it automatically opens to the Old-Fashioned Corn Bread recipe.

I love cornbread. My husband loves to eat it with pulled pork and fried pickles. He's not from the South but he did go to college in south! My favorite cornbread recipe has cornmeal and fresh corn in it too. Yummy!

Funny story...years ago when I was 12 I set out to make cornbread in my mom's castiron skillet. I mixed, pored and baked. When it came out it was beautiful! I was so proud and showed my dad who was the cornbread expert in the family. We cut it up, still warm and I took a bite only to be very disapointed. It tasted terrible. So dad back tracked the recipe with me. He said show me the baking powder you used. Sure I said showing him the box of arm and hammer baking SODA!Oy!

There's little better this time of year than a hearty soup and cornbread, served with local butter and our own honey. Its important to have enough leftover cornbread for breakfast in the morning too. There might be fancy restaurant food in the city, but here on the farm we like it hot, hearty and simple.

I grew up without cornbread. I have had it several times as an adult, and only once did I like it - at a Cajun restaurant. Obviously it makes a great deal of difference on how it tastes on two important things - ingredients/method, and who does the cooking! I would be delighted to win this cookbook and make myself a believer!

As a black woman from Detroit, there was always cornbread around. Mom from Alabama and all the neighbor ladies from other Southern states. My mom made cornbread all the time, as did all our friends moms. I know I took it for granted that this wonderful food would always be available and I never really learned to make it. Every year around this time, I start trying my hand at different cornbread recipes hoping for the right one, the one that was most like Winnie's, (my mom) which according to her wasn't as good as Bessie's (her mom). Each time, I end up unsatisfied and feeling just a little insufficient. I know that I'll start again in a couple of days and this year, I know it's going to work.

I'm from the South, so NO sugar in corn bread for me - and I've lived on cornbread (made with buttermilk)from a cast iron skillet for many long years!! It goes so well with so many things. And leftover corn bread crumbled into a glass of buttermilk is a whole meal!! I hadn't heard about the cookbook, but it sure looks interesting!

I love cornbread, but I haven't figured it out completely yet - I am always trying different recipes. I like it moist and savory, to go with soups and chili. Last night I made some to soak up the gravy from the pot roast. I started raising bees this spring and I planning on adding toasted cornbread with honey to the breakfast menu here at "the urban farm".

Growing up, the only cornbread that I ever tasted was the stuff that the school cafeteria served. UGH!!! So for years, I totally avoided it, until not to long ago, when I had it by mistake. It was served with a meal at a party we went to, and I totally fell in love! Since then, I've been making it at home, but still haven't found that OMG recipe that I know is out there. Maybe this book contains that recipe :) Thanks for the contest!

I love cornbread - my mother is from Tennessee and we grew up eating it. Potato soup, cornbread, deviled eggs and a plate of garden veg like radishes, sliced tomatoes, cucumber and green onions is a fine summer supper.

My mom still makes cornbread for the turkey stuffing every year. It's the best.

I have always loved cornbread, but I entered a new world of cornbread when I started making it with strawberry yogurt instead of milks or sourcream. You won't know if you are eating cornbread or dessert and the yogurt makes it moister than anything else! I love it!Holly

I would love to win the Cornbread Gospels. Sure could use some happiness around here right now and the book and skillet would keep me happy in the kitchen for hours. Love cornbread but have only made it with a bit of extra sugar and served with butter except when I serve it under ham and beans. Mmmmm

I love cornbread! I serve it every time I make chili. I like my cornbread sweet. I have an infant and to prepare for the busy days with a baby I stocked my freezer with extra cornbread. It has been so nice to just warm it up and eat it on days when I am too busy (or tired) to cook.

Cornbread and I have not exactly become friends. I thought my grandmother, a farm wife, would have a great recipe, although I didn't remember eating it as a child. I made it one night and realized it was dry and tasteless! My father confirmed that his mother's cornbread was never that good. So, I really need some better recipes!

Thanks so much for offering this cookbook! I would love to try some of these cornbread recipes. I found your blog when looking for recipes for pita bread for my husband who is going to try his hand at baking for the first time in his 46 year old (as of 12/12!) life. He got laid off the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, so this is some much needed cheer. THanks for the great stories and the chance to win what sounds like a super cookbook!

My husband didn't like cornbread when I met him, so I set out to create a recipe he would love. Mission accomplished! I start with diced bacon in a cast iron skillet placed in the oven as it pre-heats. Pouring the batter into the very hot bacon grease creats a crispy/salty/smoky crust that is so yummy! The recipe results in a sweet and moist cornbread, almost like a cake but still real cornbread. Favorite toppings are butter and either raw honey or homemade spicy apple butter! However, I would love to try new cornbread recipes and discover a new author.

Corn bread and brown (pinto) beans...doesn't get much better than that or much simpler. Would like to learn how to make the cornbread in a cast iron skillet though, I bet it would taste wonderful.Tammy (thanks for another contest!--They are fun. :-)

I don't have any good tips on how to make awesome cornbread (maybe that's why I need the Gospels!) but I have learned that just about any cornbread is delicious warm out of the oven with soft butter and generous drizzles of honey.

I have to echo the cries the restaurant patrons in the book: "I love cornbread!" It looks like a great book.

My uncle moved in with my family earlier this year from Texas. One day I wanted to make cornbread for him, but, what do you know, we were short on cornmeal. So I threw some popcorn kernels into our regular blender and ground them into a coarse flour--parts of it about the consistency of polenta, some finer. The substitution worked, and my uncle still requests "cornbread with popcorn."

i love corn muffins - especially warm from the oven w/ some butter. or w/ some fresh blueberries in them. it is one of the first things i learned how to make. i haven't ever made corn bread in a cast iron skillet - it is something that i will have to try.

I made cornbread for the first time last week with a skillet and loved it. Now, I have never liked cornbread because my mother (a not-very-good cook) always made it very dry and when finances were tight, we would have cornbread and honey and milk. Don't like anything but the honey in that meal! Norm loves cornbread though, so I'm constantly looking for a recipe that I would like as well. I NEED that recipe book to make both of us happy. (Not that I'm begging!(

My cornbread story... well for a few years when I was in college, I would make Jiffy cornbread to feel like I was having something homemade. It was super inexpensive, easy, baked quickly, and was highly portable for grabbing a bit and heading to class.

I love corn bread but it gets messy with all the crumbling. Eating things on top of it seems to correct that problem. I split a piece and ladle chili or stew over it and eat it with a spoon. Sauteed spinach or other greens are good, too. Kathleen

Mmm...cornbread! We love cornbread, right now in leftover stuffing form; but also in muffins, pans, loaves, and pudgie pie makers. A far cry from my first hard, stale taste of it in the school lunch program at school!

As I didn't grow up eating cornbread (being that I was born and raised in Marlow, England and lived there for 30 years.)I have learned to enjoy it now as we have been living in Raleigh, NC for the past few years. Cooking it in an old dutch oven has worked well so far. Maybe it's time to purchase a cast iron pan and the cookbook sounds like the way to go. Great idea for a gift also. MAny thanks.

My dad used to eat cornbread in a bowl with buttermilk. Now, we both eat it with butter and honey. Yum!

My grandmother, Bibby, use to make the BEST cornbread. She made it in this beat up well seasoned pan. Everyone wanted that pan when Bibby passed. BUT, Bibby promised the pan to my cousin Dana. It is still getting a lot of use to this day and still makes THE BEST cornbread.

I must say, I think I have one of the greatest cornbread stuffing recipes

Yes, I was raised in the South. And, yes, we love our cornbread dressing during the holidays. The recipe I've posted is not my great-grandmother's. Bobby (Maude Shaffer) never used recipes. I don't remember too well, but I've been told she was a fabulous cook. This recipe for cornbread dressing came from Mrs. Palmier in Meridian, Tx. It's pretty close to what Bobby used to make. Enjoy!

Saute onion and celery in butter. I salt and pepper to taste.Mix all bread and veggies together then add turkey drippings or chicken broth. Add the cream of celery and cream of chicken soups. Add enough HOT water w/melted butter to make the mixture sloppy.Season to taste with salt, pepper, and sage.Beat 6 eggs and add to dressing.Bake at 350 degrees in a cake pan until center is set (1-2 hours)

The only way I like lima beans is when my mom cooks them with butter and then bakes them under cornbread. Yum. :) But when I went to duplicate it in my own kitchen, I discovered the box of Jiffy mix was not as moist and tasty as I'd like, so I'd enjoy this cookbook!

Ack! I almost made her cornbread last night (I have The Passionate Vegetarian), but it was so late... But, yes, cornbread sounds great! I love it with soup, chili, or with apple butter for breakfast... Mmm...

Growing up, my mom always made cornbread from scratch to go with chili. I never really liked chili as a child (I've outgrown the dislike) but I loved chili nights because of the cornbread.

My first two years in college my boyfriend and I went to the same cajun restaurant time after time. Their entres weren't very good, but the cornbread was so amazing we couldn't stop going.

My senior year of college my roommate's boyfriend discovered the jiffy cornbread mixes, and cornbread became a staple of our diet. It was his solution to any problem. Relationship troubles- cornbread muffins, late night studying- cornbread, parties- cornbread with lots of butter and honey. It wasn't as good as my mom's homemade kind, but they got married and moved away last year and I still make it every once in a while out of nostalgia.

To me cornbread is only surpass by chicken and homemade noodles as the ultimate comfort food. It reminds me of everything great about my life.

I LOVE cornbread. My Mom used to make it in the cast iron skillet when we were kids. I never told her but I always liked my step-mom's version better because it was sweeter. Come to find out it came out of the Jiffy Mix box!! :) Anytime I make a big old pot of Chili we have to have cornbread. For dessert ... warmed cornbread with melty butter and honey .. YUM YUM!!!

The hubby and I love having cornbread with our meals. It's fast, easy and cheap to whip up, especially if we are having a main course soup. Yeast bread is wonderful but not spontaneous. Cornbread is good anytime.

The South adores cornbread. Cornbread is served hot or cold, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Often cornbread is a meal all by itself, and in Tennessee you can’t spell cornbread without buttermilk. Buttermilk is both a required ingredient in cornbread and the beverage of choice to accompany cornbread.

I made my first pan of cornbread twenty eight years ago using a recipe provided by a friend ,a fellow furniture saleswoman. My friend assured me that her cornbread recipe was “the best”. The cornbread was a “culinary tease” a flirtatious gesture meant to “wow” my soon to be husband, Earl Cruze, an East Tennessee dairy farmer and a “southern cornbread” aficionado.

According to Earl, her recipe was far from ”the best”, in fact it was sweeeeet, cakey textured, lacking buttermilk, and tasting “nothing” like his Mother’s crisp slightly greasy cornbread. As far as he was concerned, my cornbread was simply not edible. We married in spite of his harsh assessment.

Twenty eight years later I can make a skillet of cornbread as good as his mother’s, and he is an award winning buttermilk maker. We make a good team.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place 3/8 inch of grease (bacon drippings) in the bottom of a well seasoned cast iron skillet. Preheat the skillet for 5 minutes. Combine cornmeal mix, butter, and buttermilk, stir. Carefully pour the batter into the hot greased cast iron skillet. Bake the cornbread at 400 degrees until it is dark and crusty on the outside.

When done, remove the cornbread from oven, let it rest five minutes. Flip cornbread onto a flat plate, crust side up. Serve alone or with a meal.

I like to cut a pie shaped piece for myself, but my husband likes to break off chunks of crust and leave the tender inside for later snacking. Of course I serve my cornbread with ice cold real churned buttermilk.

For many of our buttermilk customers their fondness for buttermilk began with an evening ritual of cornbread and buttermilk. Cold leftover cornbread was broken into a glass of buttermilk and eaten with a spoon-soup style. This is still a great refreshment. Try it.

Now here’s the deal, if I win your contest for The Cornbread Gospel you win too!!! I will send you a half gallon of our delicious real churned buttermilk and a copy of the documentary film Buttermilk, It Can Help. The film by Joe York is about my husband and his award winning churned buttermilk. The film was commissioned this year by the Southern Foodways Alliance located in Oxford, Mississippi. Annually the SFA honors “Keepers of the Flame” of southern cooking. This year my husband’s buttermilk received the award. At the celebration breakfast our buttermilk was served along with the famous grilled “crackling corncakes” made famous by the expert county cooks at The Old Country Store in Jackson, Tennessee.

Thanks for the cornbread contest and welcome to the world of Tennessee “buttermilk cornbread.” I can’t wait to read the Cornbread Gospels.

Cheri CruzeCCruze@aol.com

Check out the SFA website for much more info about Southern food and culture.

Oh dear, oh dear...WOW, Susan, TWO giveaways within a week of each other! You're spoiling us, I tell you :)

Ok...I'm game....when we were little my mother (being the lovely little European farmgirl that she is), used to make straight cornbread, but add VEGGIES (waaay interesting) pieces into the mix with a little paprika (it's an Eastern European thing, I tell ya!) and then pour the whole bit into those old cast iron pans that are shaped like little corn on the cobs. They were suprisingly delicious!

I won my very first taste of cornbread. There was a living history museum near my hometown, and they'd have a Laura Ingalls Wilder weekend every year. My parents took me when I was about six, and I won a loaf of cornbread for knowing how old Laura would have been, had she been alive at the time. Cornbread and victory taste good together. ;)

There is nothing like a good cornbread in a cast iron skillet. It reminds me always of my mother... and it reminds her of hers... and her of hers. Who knows how far back these traditions go. It is also the only bread that I could sit down, stand up, whatever... and eat the whole thing and not feel guilty about not sharing. :) Happy Holidays everyone!

I remember when I was in Girl Scouts (during the early 70's) we were learning about pioneers and that they baked from memory adn trial & error, not usually recipe cards. We were given the task to "make up " our own cornbread recipe. I recall that mine looked and tasted like yellow concrete. Still to this day, I think of that when ever I make cornbread (usually from a box). I would so put an actually book to good use.

Cornbread that is gluten free was one of my earliest successes in alternative baking. I use my grandmothers century-old cast-iron skillet and it is perfection! I haven't gotten adventuresome so perhaps I need a push with Crescent's cookbook.Carol

While I have always eaten cornbread (I am Southern after all) it is just in the past year or so that I have developed a real respect and affection for it. My mom clued me in to Three Rivers brand of cornmeal mix and now that is the only kind I buy. My other obsession is Mexican cornbread with green chilies, creamed corn, onion, hot chile peppers, and cheese. I consider it a vegetable side dish. Warm cornbread crumbled in a glass of cold milk eaten after dinner for dessert - yum!

Just made homemade cornbread over the weekend to have with pork and pinto bean chili. I love folding some sautéed onions and peppers in the batter before baking. Adds great flavor and texture.Crescent's books are fantastic! What a great giveaway.

Growing up in the midwest even, we did not eat cornbread do to the fact that my mom had not so fond memories of eating it daily as a child, it's the poorman's bread. So when I left home and discover cornbread with pepers or soaked in milk and honey (for afterdinner snack) I loved it. Plus finding out how to make it from "scratch". oh and how it gets crisper in a cast iron skillet instead of a pan.Not to say I was deprived as a child my mom makes the absolute best pies and coffecake, I mean REALLY. She is German desent.

When I was a little girl, my step-dad loved to make collards with cornbread...or chili with cornbread...or basically anything with cornbread. So when I got married I started making my own cornbread, to which my new husband said "what the hell is that!" I had no idea that there were people on the earth who had never had cornbread. It took him some getting used to, and it's still not his favorite, but i love it!! And he can eat it or he can starve, the choice is entirely up to him.

Down South my husband learned how to spit seeds and eat cornbread from his Grandpa. Grampa S was a real cowboy -- he was on the very last cattle drive before the whole country went feedlot.

To eat cornbread like Grampa S did every morning, get yourself a glass of cold milk and crumble the cornbread into it. Eat with a spoon. For some reason, that makes the cornbread sweeter. Must be the kick of loving history behind it.

My grandma was from Kentucky and we often had soup beans with skillet cornbread. I'm not the greatest cook, so my beans get sopped up with Jiffy cornbread. I'd love to win the cornbread cookbook to expand my horizons. And if I am so lucky to win, I will buy a cast-iron skillet, so I can do it up right!

My grandmother left me her 60 year-old cast iron skillet (much to my father's dismay, he didn't get it) but I have yet to find a cornbread recipe as heavenly as hers (which, incidentally, she took with her to heaven).

I love warm cornbread with butter and peaches on cold mornings for breakfast. So I'll keep my fingers crossed that I win the book!

My Mom used to make the most amazing cornbread dish for breakfast when we were out camping. She'd put bacon and pinapple rings in her favorite cast iron skillet and pour the cornbread batter over the top. It always tasted as good as it smelled and could get me out of my sleeping bag and into the cold Rocky Mountain morning air faster than anything else ever could.

Growing up, my dad would make the best cornbread, in some cast iron molds shaped like small ears of corn. I loved that these shapes had an abundance of crust, and were small enough to be eaten by hand.

One of the things that I have more recently been introduced to is sweet cornbread. While I think they are good, I still have a soft spot in my heart for a nice savory cornbread along side a big bowl og beans.

Thanks for reminding me that it is perfect weather for cornbread, I'm going to have to make a batch soon.

If given a choice of my last meal, it would be red beans, pan fried potatoes, slices of onion and hot cornbread. I would crumble the cornbread on top of the beans and cover it with just a little more bean "juice." If there was cornbread leftover, I would crumble it in a cold glass of buttermilk and eat it with a spoon.

It's a cold day in my backyard. I guess it's time to get up, turn on the oven and reach for that iron skillet.

I have to say my family is a big fan of Jiffy cornbread mix, though I also like to make it from scratch. Our favorite is cornbread pancakes; they are a specialty of my dad's and anytime I visit he makes them for me. I also love cornbread muffins and eat tons of them in the winter with soups and stews, especially chili of course!

Hi everyone! I guess my reason for wanting to win this is because I really like cornbread but don't really make it...EVER! My husband loves it and I know how versatile it is but yet just never really knew where to start besides buying those pre-made kits that are never that great and usually bad for you. I guess I would really love to win this because I would love to learn more and start appreciating some good corn bread :-)

Thanks either way for the giveaways. Either way they are always very insightful and gives great ideas for other gifts!

MY family is from the south, so cornbread has always been a part of our meals. One of my favorite is corn bread covered in pinto beans with chilli powder sprinkled on top with green onions and diced tomatoes. It is very yummie. Another favorite is day old cornbread crumbled in milk and eaten like cereal. Of course there is the old stand by butter and honey.In fact I am cooking pinto beans and corn bread today. There is snow outside and to me this is a warm and cozy meal, Thanks for the oppertunity to rapsodise about one of my favorite foods to eat and to make. TTFN

I would love to win this book! I am a home baker and have only ever made corn muffins once, but they were so good that I decided I had to find a great skillet cornbread recipe. (For the muffins, I used the recipe in my very old edition of the Joy of Cooking.) My husband is a devotee of the cast-iron skillet for all kinds of cooking, and I think it would be fun to be able to use his favorite pan to bake something for him.

I'd love to win a corn bread book. It sounds so yummy. Once I made a tex-mex style corn bread pizza. I poured corn bread batter in a pizza pan, covered it with salsa, cheddar cheese, olives and hot peppers. It was easy and delicious. Marcia

I would love to have a cookbook recommended by you. I am a Missouri girl living in AZ and I love reading about your Missouri adventures. Plus I am an animal lover and follow all of your critters closely. And yes, my fam loves cornbread.

I love warm cornbread with butter and honey but so far I've yet to find the perfect recipe. I made one once that was soft and just dripping with butter but it was far too rich for anything but a special occasion (this was baked on the occasion of the birth of a first child to a very good friend.) I am perpetually looking for a good recipe - crispy edges but soft crumb. Good corn flavor. No additional ingredients like bacon. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

Hm cornbread. Yum, Yum, Yum! I use to waitress at the Buckhead Diner in Atlanta, GA and they were known for their cream cheese and japleno cornbread muffins. Drool. You've just gotten the pregnancy hormones to kick in and I must have the muffins. I wonder if I can talk the hubby into going there tonight.

I confess that I've only rarely eaten cornbread and never (sad, but true, never) made it myself. (I do love Crescent Dragonwagon though and I'm going to look for some of her books - I know I have one of them.) That said, I am absolutely loving reading all the Comments from your many readers - they are all delightful! Don't you just love that as of now there are 138 Comments??!! - your readership is vast and I'd say it was safe to say that we love your blog. This is such a fun 'giveaway' - thank you and congratulations to whoever (or is it whomever???) wins!

One of my all time favorite foods has always been cornbread. As a little girl, I was not allowed to have any bread until I ate my meat and veggies. Since I was a very slow, picky eater, I was always worried that all the cornbread would be eaten before I finished. One time Daddy watched me out of the corner of his eye as he reached over and picked up the last piece of cornbread. I never say anything, but two fat tears quietly streaked down my face, and when Momma asked me why I was crying, I said, my voice choked with tears, "D-d-daddy tooked the last p-p-piece of cornbread and he knows I c-c-can't have any til I'm finished eating." Then Daddy gave this big laugh and put the cornbread on my plate and told me I didn't have to finish the rest that night, I could go ahead and have my cornbread.

One of my favorite bedtime snacks to this day is cornbread and milk. Crumble the cornbread in a bowl and cover with milk, just like cereal. I still love that.

Cornbread with whole corn, a good dose of WI cheese, and a dollop of sour cream next to a bowl of steaming chili- please realize that we have had below zero wind chills for 24 hours and most folks' car doors are frozen shut. Cornbread...it substitutes for sunshine in WI right now.

I'm a former yankee who's been living in the south for about 6 years now. I moved from Baltimore to South Carolina, and then even further south to Georgia. While I was in college in south Carolina, I got my first waitressing job working at a "meat and three" restaurant.

Meat and three's are a southern tradition. You pick your protein (be it fried chicken, fried steak, or chicken fried steak), and then your three "vegetables" (and I use the term loosely because mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, squash casserole and fried okra all count), and the whole thing is served up with a soft yeast roll or a warm mess of cornbread.

The cornbread in this restaurant was my first experience with a real skillet, southern-style cornbread. I fell in love with the crisp golden crust and the buttery crunch when you bit into a piece still warm from the hopper. I would smother it in blackberry jam or honey, or use it to sop up the juice from my collard greens. I think it was that cornbread that finally convinced me the south was where I was meant to stay.

Now I have my own cast iron skillet and I make cornbread at home all the time, but I'm always looking for new recipes to try. Growing up, Cornbread to me was always pretty sweet, more like a cake than a bread, but I've come to appreciate the crumbly, crackly texture of southern cornbread even more. So call me a Carolina Girl or a Georgia Peach, but either way I'm cornbread crazy!

when i was a kid we were really poor so a lot of nights dinner was cornbread and beans.mom always made her cone bread in a cast iron skillet.my sister still has the skillet.even now whenever i eat a piece of cornbread i think of mom and my sister and i and how even poor we were happy

I love sweet cornbread and jalapeno cornbread. I have made them from scratch for years now.My mother always made cornbread with a big pot of ham and beans, which I loved , even at an early age! Sweet cornbread with butter and honey; is there anything better? Yum!

My husband loves cornbread and usually make it every week. I am very boring, just using the recipe on the container. But this looks like it would be a good investment for me since I love to cook. Laura P.

Cornbread! I would love this book and the contest ends on my birthday! My mom grew up in a very rural area of Mississippi and my grandmother picked cotton for a very little amount of money. My grandmother had 11 kids and lost her husband when the youngest was 1. Sometimes when there was no meat for dinner, my grandmother would make Chicken Flew. When asked where the Chicken was she would say he flew away leaving only the cornbread. I grew up on cornbread and have many fond memories of my mom and grandmom making this in our kitchen. Such fond memories!

Here's a story: my sophomore year of college, I befriended a freshman girl who was actually LOSING weight in college because the dining hall food was...just not up to par. I persuaded her to come visit me and whipped up a batch of cornbread for her. That started a tradition, and many more times after that she would devour cornbread from my kitchen. Slowly she returned to her pre-college weight...and then actually gained more, as any good college freshman should. I called her recently (she's a senior now) and she told me that the legacy continues! Feeding people cornbread is apparently a handy way to make friends!

I love cornbread made simply with just self rising cornmeal, some fat and buttermilk and made in a cast iron skillet. Serve it to me with a pork roast, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, and whole green onions and I will think I've died and gone to heaven.To fancy it up a bit this is the recipe I used. I made this for my kids (four boys) when they were all home.1 1/2 c cornmeal1 1/2 c Whole Wheat flour3 T molasses4 tsp baking powdersalt to taste3 eggs2 cups milk3/4 c oil1 can corn1 onion choppedbrowned hamburger (1 pound or so, depended on what I had) or bacon that was chopped up and friedchopped jalapeño peppers to tastecould be canned or freshgrated cheese for the top.Mix all ingredients together and bake for approx. 1 hour at 350 degrees.I had a big deep round casserole dish that I made it in. Sure was good.Thanks for the giveaway!Pdot

Hi Farmgirl!When I first met my husband's family and we had cornbread for the first time together, I watched in amazement as they all shoved their slice in a glass of milk! Now, our young daughters do the same, and I'm still the only one in the family who eats my cornbread with butter and honey! The cookbook looks great and it would get lots of use at our house!

The best cornbread I ever had was at a restaurant -- served still warm and in the skillet, with maple butter alongside ... I need to learn how to make something like it!

I'm so glad to learn about this book and will have to get my hands on a copy of it somehow! We're not vegetarians but Crescent's The Passionate Vegetarian is one of our mainstay cookbooks. We make the Oven-Browned Spudlets from it all the time ... in our cast iron skillet!

I loved my Grandpa! He taught me a fantastic shortcut for making cornbread (Cotton Picking packets with buttermilk instead of water), he seasoned me my very own cornbread skillet when I got married, and showed me the treat of eating crumbled cornbread from a cup of milk (buttermilk for him - white milk for me)as a pre-bedtime snack the summer I lived with him while doing an internship in college.

Because of he and my Grandma, I love cornbread (they are not with us any more), but just seeing the book and hearing the word "cornbread" instantly brings back great memories of them both.

Being a born and bread Southern girl. I was literally raised on cornbread every night with supper. My grandmother made the best cornbread I have ever tasted. Her secret for a delicious brown cripy crust was to place the Crisco in her well seasoned skillet and heat them in a 425 degree oven before pouring in her batter. Yummmy, my mouth is watering just remember the taste of it:-)

I quit trying to make cornbread, I just cannot compete with my mother in laws cornbread. Maybe if I win this book, I will come up with a better recipe than hers.I have recently eaten my first cornbread salad. Ohh it was so good.

I grew up eating red beans and cornbread. Times were tough back then for our family. Today, I make my family corn bread and beans and they love it! My mom always used her cast iron skillet of course. My favorite variation on cornbread is Mexican cornbread. It is made by adding green chilies, onions, and cheese to the regular batter. Yum!

Having grown up in the South, I was raised on cornbread. . . cornbread dressing for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner or wonderful warm cornbread slices with melted butter with fresh vegetables. I am also a fan of Crescent and own one of her big cookbooks. I enjoy reading it as much as I do trying her vegetarian recipes.

I've enjoyed following farmgirlfare for several years - even before the Cary era! Love your recipes, stories and pictures of farm life. Your Autumn Soup recipe (with red bell pepper and yellow squash) is a big favorite of mine.

Hi Susan, I love reading your blog and seeing all the great photos you take of your farm, animals, and food. I would love to have this wonderful cornbread cookbook because cornbread is very much loved by the men in my family. I thought there was possibly going to be a fight at Thanksgiving over a pan of cornbread (cooked in a cast iron skillet, Thank you very much! Is there any other way to cook cornbread?!) between my husband, dad and one of my brother-in-laws. They are great fans of cornbread. Hot with butter or crumbled and eaten in a glass of cold milk will work for any of them. Thank you for sharing your farmlife.

Cornbread is the ultimate comfort food for me. When I was a child my family had a very secluded, rustic cabin on the lake. We spent nearly every weekend at that cabin for many years. I have lots happy memories of days spent waterskiing, fishing with my dad, and evening meals of fried bass, fried potatoes, and cornbread. To this day, the smell of cornbread reminds me of my fondest childhood memories and takes me back to those simple, carefree times.

Ok, I had NO IDEA Crescent Dragonwagon had another book coming out! Her Sizzlin' Skillet Cornbread (from Soup & Bread) is my alltime favorite cornbread. I've been known to double the recipe to fill my giant cast iron skillet right to the rim whenever we have chili get togethers with friends (and then the cornbread always gets raves).

Whether or not I win this book here, I AM going to have to get my hands on a copy. I didn't even know she was back to writing cookbooks. When our realtor helped us buy our condo about 6 years ago, I bought her a copy of the just-released Passionate Vegetarian...

Cornbread with bean soup is how I grew up eating it in Missouri. Than I married & Moved to Wisconsin where they put syrup on it, took me several years before I tried it that way, have to admit its good. I like a sweet cornbread. And nothing beats cornbread with chili.

For a girl of Jewish descent who grew up in San Francisco, my love of cornbread is immoderate. For some reason (neither ethnic nor geographic) my go-to meal for my family is beans and cornbread. But I make cornbread anytime I think my family is going to be less than excited about the vegetarian suppers I prefer to eat. I can make just about anything as long as there's cornbread and honey on the table.

Crescent Dragonwagon is one of the cooking voices I hear in my head--along with Nigella Lawson and Deborah Madison, and sometimes when I'm impatient with myself, Mark Bittman. I love her writing and haven't read The Cornbread Gospels yet.

Growing up our favorite way to eat fresh baked cornbread was with sausage links laid on the top, so that everybody had at least one or two. Then served hot with real butter and homemade applesauce. Mmmmmm..... Wish I could convert my DH. Maybe this book will be the catalyst I need. ;)

Her Skillet-Sizzled Cornbread from her soup book is the one I make ALL THE TIME--for my family and for the sorority girls (all 50) I cook for. It is the BEST. The edges of it get buttery-crispy-flaky-crumbly...it's good fresh out of the cast iron pan, it's good later that night when you're 'evening it up,' it's delicious the next day, split, toasted and spread with butter and jam. Mmmmm....

Sliding in just before the deadline! My only "cornbread memory" is of that horrid stuff that comes in a blue and white box for a ridiculously cheap price at the grocery -- I think it's like 35 cents or something. Mom used to make it with her chili, which was outstanding. I never understood why we were expected to choke down this dry, crumbly mess with a delicious bowl of spicy, savory chili. I used to crumble mine over the chili just to make it disappear. ick! I'd love to learn more about the real thing!

So, I made some cornbread a month ago and being me, I thought I'd try to mix whole wheat flour with the all purpose flour. The cornbread came out tasting great, but it was so crumbly my husband and I had to eat it with a spoon! I'd love a copy of the book. Just thinking about it makes me want to go home and make up a big skillet of it.

I used to go to her restaurant in Eureka Springs! She's super....In my family, we've got 2 schools of cornbread: the sweet vs. unsweet. Split right down the middle - 4 of us; 2 on each side. Nothing beats some great cornbread with beans....

mmm...cornbread. I never use the same recipe twice...and often improvise...sometimes comes out yummy moist awesome....on occasion dry....I guess I'll need to read the book to get my cornbreading on the right path!

Cornbread rules have been passed down through each generation in my family. Its not like anyone ever wrote them down or even spoke them out loud. But to not follow the rules, well...it just wouldn’t be cornbread without them.

Rule #1 - Use buttermilk in the recipe. If you don’t have buttermilk, then you need to make sour milk first by adding a splash of vinegar or lemon juice to regular whole milk. This is only a last resort solution, because it’s never quite as good as using real buttermilk. Rule #2 – No sugar, please. Everyone (in our family) knows that real cornbread has no sugar. It’s a hearty BREAD. If cornbread has sugar, then its not cornbread. It becomes corncake! Yes, corncake can be very, very good, just don’t call it ‘cornbread.’Rule #3 – Cook in well-seasoned Iron skillet. I’m not really sure why this is such an important rule, but it is. Maybe it’s the fact that it gets cut up into those nice-looking pie wedges. Maybe it’s the nice crustiness it gets around the edges. Maybe it is the iron skillet that makes real cornbread scream (if cornbread could scream), “Comfort food.”

Slather with your real cornbread, with real butter, and serve with beans.

I absolutely love skillet cornbread. My Uncle Harry gave me my favorite recipe, which I make and adore. But I ordered a copy of this book and look forward to trying the recipes. Thanks for the recommendation!

December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.

Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and I especially love hearing about your experiences with my recipes. Comments on older posts are always welcome!

Please note that I moderate comments, so if I'm away from the computer it may be a while before yours appears.

I try my best to answer all questions, though sometimes it takes me a few days. And sometimes, I'm sorry to say, they fall through the cracks, and for that I sincerely apologize.

I look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy your e-visits to our farm!